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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Biscotti Recipe Collection by Request

Biscotti, they're not just for Christmas! Apparently they were a hit and I have had several requests for recipes. If you have never made Biscotti before, don't be intimidated. They are just about the easiest cookie to make and they keep well. Traditionally a very hard cookie made for dipping into a hot drink.

I made four different biscotti over the holiday, top left: Dried Cherry and Pistachio with a white chocolate drizzle, top right: traditional Sicilian Anise, lower left: Butter Pecan, and lower right: Triple Chocolate. Below are the recipes, I am including a link to each one, you can get to their sites by clicking on the titles. If you have never made Biscotti before, click on the link for the Triple Chocolate Biscotti as there is a great pictorial tutorial.

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and next 5 ingredients. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; beat until combined. Fold in cherries and pistachios.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 16"-long log. Brush off excess flour; transfer logs to prepared sheet, spaced 5" apart. Flatten each log into a 2"-wide strip. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 250°F and arrange 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third.

Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer biscotti to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 1/3"-thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on baking sheets. Bake biscotti, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until crisp, about 40 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks; let cool. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

My note: to drizzle with white chocolate, melt your chocolate in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30 second interval until it is melted (be careful not to over heat and scorch your chocolate). Spoon the melted chocolate into a small Ziploc bag and snip one corner, drizzle over your biscotti and let set until cool. I place my biscotti on a cookie rack and then place a cookie sheet under the rack to catch the overflow. Keeps the mess down and you can reuse that overflow chocolate.

dump out onto a floured board, lightly press dough together into a ball and divide into two pieces.

with oiled hands, on a piece of parchment paper on top of your cookie sheet, shape dough into logs about 13 x 2" long and press flat. Make sure they are a couple inches apart and bake in a preheated oven 350F for about 35 minutes.

remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes and then slice cookies, return to your cookie sheet and place in the top 1/3 of your oven at 325F for 15 minutes or until golden.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line them with parchment.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl midway through.

Beat in the vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until you have a cohesive, well-blended dough.

Add the nuts and butterscotch chips, mixing until they're well-distributed throughout the dough.

Transfer the dough to a work surface. Divide it into three fairly equal pieces, and shape each piece into a rough 10" log.

Transfer the logs to the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3" between each log; you may or may not need to use both baking sheets. Wet your fingers, and pat the logs into smooth-topped rectangles 10" long x 2 1/2" wide x 7/8" thick.

Bake the logs for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're beginning to brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool for 30 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.

Gently transfer the logs to a cutting surface, and use a serrated knife to cut them on the diagonal into 1/2"-wide slices. Because of the nuts and the nature of the dough, the biscotti at this point are prone to crumbling; just be sure to use a slow, gentle sawing motion, and accept the fact that some bits and pieces will break off. (It's the privilege of the cook to eat these warm, tasty bits and pieces as they're created.)

Carefully transfer the slices, cut sides up (and down) to a parchment-lined (makes cleanup easier) or ungreased baking sheet. You can crowd them together, as they won't expand further; about 1/4" breathing space is all that's required.

Return the biscotti to the 300°F oven, and bake them for 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven, quickly turn them over, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until they're very dry and beginning to brown. Remove them from the oven, cool completely, and store in an airtight container.

Yield: about 60 biscotti.

MY NOTE: All of these recipes are delicious, but the Butter Pecan was by far the most popular.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl and mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and stir on low speed until just combined.

Dust a work surface with flour. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the sticky dough out onto the work surface and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Using your hands, shape the dough into a rough ball (if it's still too sticky, dust with a bit more flour) and cut in half. Form the dough pieces into two short logs by rolling back and forth. Place the logs onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into longer logs about 3/4-inch high and 2 inches wide. Allow enough space for the logs to spread a few inches while they bake. Bake for about 35 minutes, until firm to the touch. Let the biscotti logs cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, or until just cool enough to touch (if you wait any longer, the biscotti will be difficult to cut); then, using a sharp knife, slice the logs on the diagonal into 3/4-inch slices (I do this right on the baking sheet). They will crumble just a bit; don't worry about it. Turn the biscotti on their sides (so that the cut sides are down) and place back in the oven for 10 minutes to dry and crisp up. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

When cool, push all the biscotti together (this prevents the Confectioners sugar from getting on the sides of the cookies) and use a fine sieve to dust with Confectioners sugar. Serve with coffee, tea or warm milk.

MY NOTE: Her recipe is called Double Chocolate Biscotti. I made mine Triple Chocolate by melting dark chocolate and dipping just the bottom of each biscotti into the melted chocolate. You could dip one end or drizzle, what ever you like.

There you have it, all in once place, a nice collection of amazing biscotti recipies. All personally tested and approved by me! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did and those that I gifted over the holiday. Don't wait for Christmas to make them, they are wonderful anytime!

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About Me

Welcome Quilters! I'm Karen Meyer aka the Sister Of The Divide. This blog is an exploration of quilting and design, sprinkled with personal observations, family recipies and LQS reviews. Sharing my passion for quilting and links to tutorials by myself and others, I hope to spark a desire in you to explore your own personal creativity. Feel free to copy anything, to share and to enjoy, comments are welcome!

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Welcome To The Divide

Located in Foresthill, California in the heart of the historic gold mining country. They call this place The Divide because it is located on a broad ridge between the North and Middle Forks of the American River on the gold-bearing gravel bed of an ancient river.